Review: The Dark Element by Bryan Wilson

Blurb:

The Dark Element is the thrilling third installment of the genre-bending science fantasy series Power of the Stars.

"Pain will become a known brother. Grief, a sister. Hatred will guide the stars like an overbearing parent, and death will be the child spawned from it all."

Alone and under constant duress, Colton fights to maintain his strength, will, and sanity.

Violet and a group of others struggle through their own hell, battling tyrannical guards, inhumane monsters, and a dangerous new element.

Meanwhile, Ace and the boys are desperate to find Colton. To gain the help they need to accomplish the task, they must travel to the mysterious and, perhaps, unwelcoming sister planets.

Back in the Vintaran System, V-Company does all it can to repel the Flame invaders from Penski. Win or lose: war always costs one's soul.

If these friends can't conquer their separate battles and save one another, then darkness will reign, and peace will become a distant memory to the souls of humanity.

Review:

It’s almost impossible to discuss a 3rd book in a series without spoilers, so this is going to be a review that has some spoilers sprinkled throughout. 

The Dark Element is The Empire Strikes Back of the Power of the Stars saga, with a dire, dim overcast to the bloody action sprawled across multiple worlds. In this 3rd entry into the Power of the Stars, Wilson has taken a more mature tone as his series has grown darker, dealing with the terrifying ramifications of galactic warfare.

If you’ve read The Princess of Oldir, the dark element—tenebris—was introduced and its importance in the upcoming saga was hinted at. While the full capabilities and destructive power of tenebris are still a mystery, we’ve been told that it was one of the major causes of the near total destruction that came from the Great War thousands of years ago. The Heart of the Flame has dedicated decades to finding the mines on Oldir where the tenebris can be harvested. One of the major settings for The Dark Elements is these tenebris mines, which have turned into concentration-like camps where prisoners of war are forced to extract the element from the ground, often with the threat of physical violence or death as a consequence for falling behind.

At the end of The Sons of the Prophets, Colton is faced with a near impossible choice to save his family or knowingly fall into The Heart’s trap. He decides to take the risk and save his family. The Dark Element begins with the revelation that Colton has been taken to this labor camp where he is being tortured daily and then healed to allow his torture to continue without him dying. This culminates in the execution of one of Colton’s friends, which throws him into a rage that activates a prophecy with the Prophet Oldir where he learns that the Prophet Oldir had previously gifted The Heart of the Flame with an endowment of power that he was now going to bestow upon Colton to even the playing field. This puts Colton into a cocoon-like state, surrounded by an energy shield that was unable to be penetrated for the majority of the book while he was “powering up.” In some ways, this felt a bit like The Dragon Reborn which took Rand out of the action for most of the book, instead focusing on developing the storylines for many of the surrounding cast of characters. 

The Dark Element continues to focus on the struggles the other prisoners must endure while being trapped in the mines of Oldir. Across the galaxy, David and the rest of V-Company are battling for the planet of Penski with some devastating and heartbreaking results. Ace and Willick have traveled to the Sisters Supreme to petition them to join Colton’s cause, while knowing that he has disappeared from them with no evidence of his current whereabouts. What began as a fairly small-scale story has exploded into an intergalactic conflict between two Sons of the Prophets, both with a legitimate claim to the prophecy but with vastly different goals and visions for the future of the universe. 

All of these story lines culminate in an epic battle in the mines of Oldir with Colton emerging from his chrysalis of power in the middle of the battle. He demonstrates the awesome might of the new gift from Oldir, with the ability to casually slaughter huge groups of The Flame’s army. I am very excited to see how Wilson deals with this massive power in future books. For a few pages, it felt like we were entering the “dark Rand” phase of The Wheel of Time, but Colton’s friends were able to pull him back from the brink. However, I don’t think that’s the last we’ve seen of the potential that Colton’s rage, combined with his powers have in tipping the scale of the war in his favor.

I had hoped to learn more about the Twins and their race of beings in this book, but they were only mentioned briefly. It seems like they’re still the masterminds, working behind the scenes of the entire Flame faction. I expect future books will begin to reveal their mysterious backstory.

The Dark Element is a darker entry into the Power of the Stars that keeps the stakes high, answers a few questions, but leaves most of the story still open and waiting to be told. As Colton continues to meet with the Prophets, we inch closer and closer to what is likely to be an epic confrontation between the two Sons of the Prophets. Wilson has demonstrated in The Dark Element that he is willing to punch with full force, kill beloved characters, and let our heroes fail. I think it’s going to be a bumpy road ahead for Colton and his team!